Thank you, Mumhere! That was very helpful to read - thank you so much for sharing your perspective.
ColinsMum - I seem to get a lot of those "wtf moments" with my daughter. Yes, I think maybe the visual of the tally marks was surely helping her make those calculations - that is the only way it makes sense. I think we do often assume our daughter is going to need more educational interventions than our son just because of how utterly shocking she is to us and to anyone that encounters her. My son is definitely very bright as well, but being less verbal and a bit more shy he isn't quite as "outloud" with his gifts perhaps. His math and reading skills are certainly at least a couple years ahead of his age. I am trying to shift my thinking to focusing on HIS educational needs, as he is the one that will be entering school first.
Well, we went to the private school today. I think both my husband and I were almost hoping there would be some red flags or that we wouldn't like the general vibe... but it was actually really great. The classrooms were wonderful. Many of the questions I asked, I got from you guys - so thank you very much for sharing your wisdom on what to look for. They answered every question the way I would have hoped, and with sincerity and "proof" to back it up where appropriate.
The commute would most certainly be longer than we thought. Well over an hour.
This is much too far to commute every day. So if we wanted to send our kids here, we would need to move. We aren't sure we are thrilled about that idea, although it is definitely possible to do. It is a much more densely populated area, which means lots of traffic - something we definitely don't like. We are sort of more rural/small town types. But then we wonder if it is selfish of us to not want to move... work doesn't tie us to this location as my husband works from home. He can work anywhere.
I am also thinking about when the kids are teenagers... there is a lot more for them to do in a more populated area than in a rural area. They may enjoy living in the area, and honestly I'd probably get used to the high population density too.
Another good thing about moving closer to the gifted school is that the public schools in the area are much better than our local public schools. So even if we decided to not continue with the private school, for whatever reason, we'd be in a pretty good public school district that may be able to accommodate to some degree.
Our son would indeed have to get tested in order to be admitted, even for the pre-K. Part of me feels weird about that, although I know I shouldn't. I mean, if we want a "real" gifted school where people don't simply pay for admission but instead must truly be gifted then we have to expect testing. Part of me thinks "what if he isn't really gifted at all?" I worry what would happen if our son wasn't qualified, but our daughter was and "needed" their specialized education.
We are going to meet with a local public school too and hopefully get to see their classroom and learn more about how they handle gifted children.
In the meantime, my husband and I are taking a week off from researching it or even thinking about this stuff. (Er... starting tomorrow! haha!) We need a little mental break from it and we'll see if it gives us a new perspective.
